Canelo Alvarez vs. Josesito Lopez: Can Josesito Make Lightning Strike Twice?

Jose “Josesito” Lopez (30-4 18 KOs) will be in for the fight of his life this Saturday when he steps in the ring with WBC super welterweight champion Mexico’s Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (40-0-1 29 KOs). 

Lopez isn’t even supposed to be in this fight, but thanks to an extraordinary series of events, he finds himself in the main event opposite one of the brightest young stars in the sport today. 

Lopez was scheduled to fight junior welterweight power puncher Kendall Holt on June 22, but Holt pulled out of the bout when he learned it would be staged outdoors. That was a blessing in disguise for the fighter who is now being called the “Riverside Rocky.” When Holt dropped out, Lopez was left looking for a dance partner, and when Andre Berto tested positive for PED’s, that opened up the door for a fight with Victor Ortiz. 

The Lopez bout was supposed to be a stay busy fight for Ortiz before he got a chance at Alvarez, but a funny thing happened while Ortiz was staying busy—he got stopped. 

With the win over Ortiz, Lopez, a mid-level junior welterweight, now finds himself moving up in weight yet again to take on the cinnamon-haired Alvarez. On paper, this looks like a gross mismatch in favor of the budding icon Alvarez, but what you can’t read on a stat sheet or see on a record is how much heart a fighter has, and that appears to be something Lopez has an abundance of. 

No matter how prepared Lopez is, Alvarez should win this fight and should win it easy, there’s no doubt about that. The thing that makes this mismatch compelling is that Lopez was supposed to lose his last fight also. 

I guess Lopez didn’t feel like sticking to the script back in June, and I doubt he plans on doing so Saturday. The problem for Lopez is that Alvarez isn’t Victor Ortiz.

Ortiz, for all his physical gifts, seems to be missing something mentally. Thus far in his career, Alvarez hasn’t shown any deficiencies in the mental toughness department. 

Lopez understands what a win over Alvarez would do for his career and how lucky he is to have this opportunity. 

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“This is the most important fight of my life,” Lopez said at Thursday’s final press conference according to a press release issued by Golden Boy Promotions. ”I'm thankful for this opportunity.  Fighters with a few losses on their record don't get opportunities like this very often.”

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He also seems to understand that this is going to be the biggest challenge he’s ever faced in the ring.

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"I know I have a big, big fight, a tough fight, the hardest fight of my life on Saturday night. I understand that I have to fight the best fight of my life to come out with a victory, and for that reason I prepared really well. I prepared to the best of my ability.” 

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I think for Lopez to pull off the upset he will definitely need to fight the fight of his life, and that is a tall order considering he will be fighting two divisions higher than he is accustomed to. 

Lopez will come out looking to win this fight, and I don’t doubt that he believes he can. I would look for Lopez to be competitive in the early part of the fight, and if he sticks to the game plan of trainer Henry Ramirez, he should have some success. 

As the rounds wear on, though, I think Alvarez’s size advantage will be too much for Lopez to overcome and he will suffer the first stoppage loss of his career. 

There is still always the chance, however minute it may be, that the “Riverside Rocky” could make lightening strike twice.